FRESH OFF ASICS STATEMENT, TRITONS OPEN HOME AND CONFERENCE SCHEDULEUC San Diego (1-2) opens both its 2013 home and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ledger this week. The Tritons host No. 8 USC at RIMAC Arena on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., before welcoming in No. 4 Pepperdine for a 1 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Jan. 12. UCSD began its 2013 season at the 49th Annual UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational last weekend, taking three of the top seven teams in the country to the five-set maximum and knocking off No. 5 Lewis after facing a two-set deficit. The Trojans and the Waves have yet to open their campaigns. Pepperdine plays at top-ranked defending national champion UC Irvine on Tuesday night.

MATCH COVERAGEAll UCSD home matches inside RIMAC Arena will again this season feature a live online video stream as well as live stats. Fans can access live video and live stats from the Schedule/Results tab of the men's volleyball page at UCSDtritons.com.

TRITONS MAKE 2013 AVCA POLL DEBUT AFTER SOLID WEEKENDAfter a 1-2 showing at the UCSB Asics Invitational where it took all three top-seven opponents to five sets, UCSD moved into the No. 14 position in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll. The Tritons were among five teams receiving votes just outside of the preseason edition of the rankings. Having played No. 5 Lewis, No. 6 UCLA and No. 7 Long Beach State in order last weekend, UCSD continues an incredibly-tough early-season schedule with No. 8 USC and No. 4 Pepperdine rolling into RIMAC Arena to begin the conference slate in the week ahead.

BEST-EVER FOURTH-PLACE ASICS FINISHUCSD made its first championship semifinal appearance at the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational last Friday night after rallying to take down No. 5 Lewis in five sets that morning. With back-to-back 3-2 losses to UCLA and Long Beach State, the Tritons finished a best-ever fourth at the tourney. UCSD went an identical 1-2 but placed seventh in both 2010 and 2011.

LENNON SELECTED TO UCSB ASICS INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMJunior outside hitter Vaun Lennon represented UCSD on the seven-player All-Tournament Team of the 2013 UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational. He was the lone Triton to achieve double-digit kill totals in all three matches, with 13 in the come-from-behind win over Lewis, 12 against UCLA and 16 more in the third-place match versus Long Beach State. The Los Angeles native also produced seven digs in all three contests and was a UCSDtritons.com Athlete of the Week.

EBERTS APPROACHING EXCLUSIVE 1000-KILL CLUBIn his final season of college volleyball, senior outside hitter Carl Eberts needs 211 kills to become just the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau. The product of Huntington Beach and Edison High School produced 89 kills as a redshirt freshman in 2010, before leading the squad in 2011 and 2012 with 326 and 335 kills, respectively. Matching either of those two campaigns would put Eberts firmly in UCSD's 1000-Kill Club, joining current members and former teammates Jason Spangler (1,491; 2007-10) and Frank Fritsch (1,403; 2007-10), as well as Jim Waller (1,301; 2001-04) and former Triton women's volleyball head coach (2005-09) and current LMU women's coach Tom Black (1,268; 1993-96).

VETERAN DUO MOVING UP ALL-TIME CHARTSCarl Eberts and Chase Frishman are each moving up separate all-time lists in the UCSD men's volleyball record book. Eberts has moved into the top-10 in kills, currently in ninth with 789. He is ninth in attacks (1,889) and also looking to enter the all-time lists in the aces (48; six short) and digs (383; 41 short) categories. Frishman, meanwhile, is sixth with 471 digs, and is 136 away from matching Chris Mortimer (2000-03) for second all-time in program history.

USC NOTESThe eighth-ranked Trojans open their 2013 campaign at RIMAC Arena this Thursday night. USC is coming off of a 2012 season in which it went 24-6 overall and won a second straight MPSF regular-season title with an 18-4 league mark. The Trojans ultimately dropped a 3-0 decision to UC Irvine in the NCAA championship match inside their own Galen Center. They have now made NCAA Championship appearances in three out of the past four years. USC returns sophomore setter Micah Christenson, the 2012 AVCA National Newcomer of the Year and MPSF Freshman of the Year, as well as sophomore middle blocker Robert Feathers, who led the nation in blocking. Last weekend, USC split a pair of exhibition matches at home against Canadian opposition, sweeping British Columbia-Okanagan in three sets on Thursday prior to suffering a 3-1 defeat the next night to Alberta, when junior opposite Tanner Jansen led all players with 18 kills. Two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year Bill Ferguson is in his seventh season at the Trojan helm.

PEPPERDINE NOTESThe No. 4 Waves went 14-15 overall and 9-13 in the MPSF a year ago, good for eighth place and the final spot in the MPSF Tournament. Pepperdine has three full-time starters among 12 returners from that squad. The Waves hosted top Canadian outfit Alberta in an exhibition contest last Saturday in Malibu, taking a 3-0 decision behind a match-high 19 kills from senior opposite Maurice Torres. Pepperdine also features junior middle Parker Kalmbach, who had seven blocks in the match. The setter is sophomore Matt West. Volleyball Hall of Famer Marv Dunphy is in his 30th season guiding the Waves.

EBERTS AND FRISHMAN BACK FOR ONE FINAL COLLEGE CAMPAIGNThe Tritons return their senior tandem of Carl Eberts and Chase Frishman in 2013 for one final season of their stellar college careers. The duo each earned All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honorable mention a year ago. Frishman recently garnered preseason All-America honorable mention from Off the Block. Eberts is a fifth-year senior out of Huntington Beach who redshirted as a true freshman in 2009. Frishman, a native of Dana Point, is in his fourth year in the program. The only other senior on head coach Kevin Ring's 2013 roster is third-year Triton Greg Smith, a middle blocker out of Fullerton.

FOLLOW THE TRITONSThere are now more ways than ever to follow the Tritons. You've always got UCSDtritons.com at your fingertips, but our social media scene continues to grow. Get instant updates on Twitter and like us on Facebook. For a more visual approach, watch our YouTube channel. Follow the Tritons all year long on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes looks and giveaways!